pingveno

Yeah, it sounds like his legal team is trying to build grounds to appeal and whoever is governing his medication is playing into their hands. Seriously, how much effort does it take to properly treat someone when they already have a prescription written?

This is why we need a rebated carbon tax immediately. Pricing carbon emission equivalents into products is how we subtly signal to everyone along a supply chain "buy this not that".

As an aside, "Environmental, Social, and Governance" (ESG) investment is a way to make investments that at least purport to be socially conscious. One could make the case that they are in the company's self interest, since companies don't exist in a vacuum. They have employees, suppliers, customers, etc. that all get hurt when any of those three causes is weakened.

Edit: The argument about the company's self interest is important because people like CEO's and fund managers have a fiduciary duty towards the company or wealth they manage. They must at least be able to make an argument that they believe themselves to be acting in their clients' best financial interest.

We should worry about both climate change and resilience. Yeah, there are the people who want to ignore climate change because getting off their ass and doing something about it would be inconvenient. But at the same time, it is here and severe. We need to acknowledge its effects and work to deal with the ramifications for both humans and the environment.

I just call them good doggos. Is that okay?

Or knock it over, if you're a pigeon. Iran definitely loves being the pigeon.

Come to think of it, it doesn't really make sense for Iran to want this sort of escalation to happen. The ideal situation from its standpoint is for Palestine to be a continuous thorn in Israel's side, but not too much. That's cheap to do and disruptive to Israel. If Israel connects the killing of hundreds of civilians to Iran, that could be justification for all out war. That would be damaging for both sides, but ultimately I think Iran would come out the worse.

For a vaguely comparable situation, look to Ukraine. NATO is willing to arm and train Ukraine, but committing NATO soldiers involves incredibly high amounts of risk. That's why NATO has held back, even though its conventional armed forces would have no trouble taking on Russia.

I think it's becoming better overall, not worse. Yes, there's a populism issue at the moment, but this is far from the first time that's happened. We're dealing with the introduction of an entire new means of communication, online media in general and social media more specifically. That brings all new hazards and benefits that need to be dealt with.

The era after the printing press was developed brought intellectual development, but it also sparked revolutions. Those didn't always wind up with that right people getting into power. It took a while for society to adapt and stabilize. I expect the same will happen with Internet communication.

I'm also hopeful because studies have shown that successive generations generally improve their abilities in abstract thinking. (I'm having trouble sourcing that statement, unfortunately). That's important for the economy because the jobs of the future will need that abstract thinking. At least in my experience, it also acts as a bulwark against bad actors because people with poorer abstract thinking abilities tend to be more gullible, at least when it comes to lies that they like.

I think it's a mistake to view the modern FBI as a coherent will. Under the abuses of Hoover, sure, but today's FBI was more than willing to investigate the Trump campaign (silently, as it should be) while the NY field office openly interfered with Hillary Clinton's campaign.

There's the quote I was looking for!

Yes, he is pushing the envelope now. And in the past. And in the future. Asking Donald Trump to not be a trash fire is like asking gravity to suddenly reverse. It ain't happening.

There's a quote from P.J. O'Rourke that illustrates the point well:

The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.

A central tenant of the Democratic Party is that government can be a force for good and should be run well. Republicans try to tear the government down, especially at the federal level. The party as a whole doesn't care nearly as much about good governance principles, though there are of course exceptions.

If you want to get through state lines, be prepared to rub a lot of hog tummies to keep them happy.